Since the spring, the five disaster relief tractor trailers of Samaritan’s Purse North American Ministries have been on the road somewhere in the U.S.

Since the weekend, you can find a tractor trailer, as well as a couple of auxiliary trailers parked at Crossroads Church.

“Samaritan’s Purse has been on disaster relief constantly,” said Louis. “We have had a site somewhere open in the United States since March 11.”

Louis said the organization plans to be in the area through Oct. 29.

“But that could change at any moment,” said Louis. “We’ll be here until there’s no need, until everybody that needs our help is helped. As long as there’s a need, we will be here.”

And that’s a dual need, mind you.

“Our main objective is to give spiritual help to homeowners while helping them clean out their homes from the disaster,” Louis said. “Our main goal is to spread the love of Jesus Christ. At the same time, we’re loving on the homeowner and getting their life back to somewhat order by clearing out the mud and the water and the debris that the flood caused.”

The volunteers approach their job not with Bibles in hand, but with tools and determination.

“We do not push the Gospel. If the homeowner asks, then we tell them about it. We don’t run up in their face and say, ‘You need Jesus,’” said Louis. “We don’t push it. The Holy Spirit comes and brings those opportunities.”

Still, it’s part of the job description, so to speak.

“If they’re mudding-out a house or at a homeowner’s site and nobody’s talking to them, comforting their needs and helping them through this, then we’re not doing our job right,” said Louis. “The homeowner is our first and main priority at the home. If it takes three days that a homeowner needs that spiritual help, then that’s what’s going to happen.

“We’ll be there until the homeowner gets the help their need while doing the house,” he said.

Louis said some 100-150 volunteers are expected in the area to assist homeowners who are unable to do the work themselves “for whatever reason,” he said.

Out-of-town volunteers have a place to lay their heads after work.(Photo: Dominick Cross)

Volunteers represent about seven or eight different states, said Louis.

“God puts it on their heart to volunteer and help the needy — and that’s what we do here,” he said. “You can come for a day or as long as you want. The majority of time, people come in for three days to a week, or two,” said Louis. “And that’ll rotate constantly throughout the whole time we’re here.”

Volunteers are responsible for “getting yourself here and getting yourself back,” said Louis. “But while you’re here, we take care of everything. Housing, food — anything you need — getting to the work site. Tools. Anything that you need while you’re here.”

A work week is Monday-Saturday. A typical day begins with orientation at 7:30 a.m. and also 12:30 p.m.

Volunteers can go to the Samaritan’s Purse website to sign up, or head to the Crossroads Church before an orientation session and fill out the short paperwork.

“It’s just a paper that tells about our statement of faith, what we believe in,” said Louis. “We don’t ask them to agree, we ask them to respect the work that we do and every one of our beliefs we believe in. We ask them to respect that.

“They can come work with us, we just ask them to respect the values that we share and hold,” he said.

The local volunteers do not undergo background checks; that is for those who need to stay overnight.

“But to spend the night here, to stay, there is a process where you go through and have to look at our statement of faith and a background check is run on you. If anything comes back, you are not allowed,” said Louis, adding that the disqualifier is “a failed background check.”

Volunteerism begins at age 14 only if accompanied by a parent; at 16 or 17, a responsible adult (youth leader, pastor, etc.) is needed; and at 18 and older, anyone can volunteer.

For the first couple of Sundays, an orientation is held at 12:30 p.m. and a crew is deployed “to get everything going,” said Louis. “And then we will take Sunday off and just work Monday through Saturday.”

Orientations are held in the main sanctuary of the church.

Louis said day volunteers are usually residents of an affected area. He added that local volunteers are needed. Volunteers can go to samaritanspurs.org to sign-up.

The way it works is, after a disaster, a homeowner calls in and asks for help. A form is filled out, pertinent information is gathered and an assessor is sent to the site.

“The assessor is the first person that will meet the homeowner and they can tell a lot where the homeowner is emotionally,” said Louis, “and then we go with other options.”

If the homeowner “is really hurting,” he said, “we can send chaplains out right then.”

Louis said anytime Samaritan’s Purse goes to a disaster, it is accompanied by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Chaplains’ Rapid Response Team.

“They go with us on each response and give that extra spiritual guidance, listening ear,” said Louis. “They’re really there for the homeowners with any emotional support they may need.”

Their service is not just for homeowners.

“We do see, and our volunteers do see a lot of stuff. Their needs are also met by the chaplains,” Louis said. “Not only are the chaplains here for the homeowners and this entire area — anyone in need — the chaplains go and visit not only the homeowners, but anybody in need in the surrounding parishes.”

Samaritan’s Purse does not accept food or supplies, nor do they transport a homeowners’ belongings to storage. However, they can load them on a trailer to be taken to storage.

“We’re here to mud-out homes,” Louis said, which includes removing wet carpet, sheetrock, “any damage that the water has done. We’re also helping homeowners with removing their belongings from their home.”

Louis said the reason Samaritan’s Purse “partners with a local church is that as we’re out spreading the love of Jesus. There’s a lot of people that are so overwhelmed that see the ‘hands and feet of Christ,’ that they want to know more,” said Louis. “People that are unsaved, they’d like to know more about Jesus.

“So that’s one thing, and the ones that have become new believers, at the end of the site, we give the church a list of everybody that we’ve touched in anyway with helping them, assisted, prayed with them, anything like that, goes to the church,” said Louis.

“And then the church follows up when we leave to make sure that everybody’s spiritually or emotional needs were met while we were here.”